Vertical file



c. F/DIECKMANN.

Patented July 26, 1921.

VERTICAL FILE APPLICATION FILED APR.26, 1920. 1,385,524.

C. F. DIECKMANN.

VERTICAL FILE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, 1920.

Patented July 26, 1921.

a SHEETS-SHEET a.

the cabinet.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

CARL F. DIECKMANN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'IO EUGENE DIET ZGEN COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

VERTICAL FILE.

charts, blue prints, filing envelops and the like. To illustrate the general class of apparatus, reference is made to the Beckbissinger Patent N o. 727,881. In these cabinets the sheets or envelops are suspended from rods, and when it is desired to examine any particular file, it and the ones in front of it are transferredonto brackets mounted on the inside of the front near'the top. front is then swung forward,permitting the desired file to be examined. In the larger cabinets, for example, size 36X42,j' or 36"X4L8 the weight of the loaded front is considerable, and the object of my invention is to provide means whereby the front, even when heavily loaded, may be readily brought either to an oblique position or to a horizontal position so that the file under examination will lie horizontal, as though I it were on a desk or table. Contributory to is broken away, to reveal the internal con- I struction.

Fig. 2 is an elevation similar to Fig. 1. ex-

cept that it is taken in section and the front is shown lowered to horizontal position;

Fig.3 is a sectional elevation through the cabinet looking toward the left, Fig. 1.

' Fig. 4 is a perspective view. illustrating the manner in which the drawings or file envelops are mounted upon rods and carried Fig, 5.is a sectional view ontheline 5--5, Fig. 1.

Application filed April 26, 1920. seria io. 376,543.

The

Specification of Letters Patent. Patnted July 26', 1921.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view showing the inner" end of the drop front, also the means for guiding elevating the same.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 77, Fig. 2, and

'Fig. 8'is a fragmentary view looking toward the right in Fig. 5.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

In the particular form shown in the drawings, the cabinet has a back wall l, two end walls 2+2, a'bottom 3, and a hinged cover 4.

The cabinet properis open at the front and is providedwith a movable front 6' by which the opening may be closed. lVhen used as a vertical filing cabinet, the drawings or envelops typified by the element 8 in Figs. 3. and 4 are suspended from rods 9., the ends "of which project onto stationary shelves or brackets 10 fastened on the inside of the end walls near the upper part thereof. Cooperating with the stationary brackets'lO are transfer brackets 12; fastened to the inside of the front 6.; When the frontis in closed position and the cover 4 raised the rods may he slipped or transferred over from the sta- 1 'tionary' to the movable brackets and when they have thus been transferred the front may be lowered, carrying the transferred files with it. v

Two chains or cables 14, of fixed length, are attached at one end to the upper part of the cabinet as for exampleat the point 15, F 2. At the other end these cables are fastened to the front about midway between the upper and lower edges thereof, but above the normal center of gravity when the front is lowered. There is a cable for each end of the front and thepoint of attachment to the front is indicated by the reference nuslot-s, they form trunnions or pivots about which the front may be swung from closed position to a half open position shown for example in Fig. 1.- When the front reaches this half open position the cables 1 1 become taut. and. thus'prevent further swinging m e nt Qllt l d at thelower ends of the slots. As thecenter of gravity is lower than the point16, the front has a tendency to v maintain this half open position but when it is desired to bring the front to horizontal position, it may be accomplished in either one of two ways. If the load is not too heavy I an ordinary person will be readily able to produce the necessary movement by pressing downward upon the upper edge of the front.

' This will cause the front to swing about the points 16 as an axis, thepins 19 slid ng upwardin the slotted bars'18. But the front is heavily loaded or the operator is possessed of relatively little strength, the necessary movement can be produced byapplying power to the lower edge ofthe front to elevate it.

The means which I have provided for thus elevating the lower edgeof the front from the half open to the full open position are illustrated more particularly in Figs. 1, 2, 3,

5, 6 and 8. The brackets 20 have arms 24;,

to the ends of which are attached lifting cables 25; I use the term cable in the generic sense, for the same may consist of chains, light wire rope or suitablesubstitute.

At the upper ends these cables pass over drums '26 rigidly fastenedto jack shafts. 28 journaled in the end walls 2 as shown in detail in v Fig. 5. .Integral with one of the drums isa toothed gear :wheel 29 which me'sh'eswith a pinion 3O fastened to a power shaft 32 drivenby a hand wheel 33. Integral with each of the drums is a sprocket 134 over which trains a sprocketchain 36.

At the lower-end these chains train over sprockets 38 rigidly fastened toan equal izer shaft 1-0 journaled near the bottom of the cabinet.

The operation will now be readily understood.

back as shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. The operator then graspsthe file required and transfers it and the ones in front of it to the brackets 12. He then lowers the front 6 as far as it will naturally go by gravity, that is, to a half open positionas shown Fig. 1. The file may then be lift 7 cd out.

the front as a desk upon which to examine the file, he either presses downward on the If the operator prefers to employ upper edgeof the front and thus causes it to swing to horizontal pos tion, shown in Fig.

2, or grasps the hand wheel 33, or the handle 34 thereof and rotates it in a positiongto wind up the cables 25 upon the drums 26. This elevates the lower edge of the front, causing the latter ,to swing to horizontal position,'the points 16 acting somewhat after the manner of a pivot, as before. The parts are so balanced and proportioned that when the front has, reached horizontal position it ,yvill au tomatically. remain there in spite of it is adjusted. 'Another reason why the hen the cabinet is closed the files i will hang vertically. When it is desired to refer to any given file the cover 4 is thrown the fact that the points 16 of attachment are nearer the upper than the lower edge of the front and the center of gravity is thus below the point. The reason is probably based upon three facts, first, that'the slot ted bars are oblique with their upper ends nearer the back of the cabinet than their lower ends (and also nearer thepoin'ts 15 of attachment of the cables 1 1) and second, that when "the front is horizontal and thus the horizontal thrust of the frontfi toward the back of the cabinet isconside 'ably in creased. It will be evident by referring to- 2 that the closer the upper end of the slots in the bars are brought to the points 15 of attachment, the more will be the force required to lower the inner edge of the frontinthe slots to return the front to the half open position. Thus in moving from half open position shown in Fig- 1 to the full open or. horizontal position shown in Fig. 2, the front passes through a critical position, on either side ofwhich it will tend to maintain itself in the position to which 1 front tends to maintain itself in horizontal position is that when the cables 14: are more nearly horizontal (asin the open position of the front)'the friction of the pins against the side of the guide slots is considerablyincreased. On account; of the positive connection between'the two drum's,'through the chains 36 and their cooperating sprockets,

and the equalizer shaft 40, the drums always rotate the same amount in the same direction thus making it certain that the pins .19 i

the lower ends of the slotted bars 18the front will be near enough to a vertical position to enable the operator to close it with the exertion ofvery little effort,

Having thus described invention, what I claimas new and desire to. secure by Letters Patent is: f

1. A filing cabinet having a movable front, supporting means "pivotally attached to vsaid front between its upper andlower ends, and a power device attached directly to the lower end ofthe frontiand adapted 1 to. vary its elevation to thus control the angle of inclination of said front.

2. A filing cabinet having amovable front,

means forjpivotally supportingsaid front between its upper and lower ends, me ans for guiding the lower end of said front, and a power device for controlling the elevation of the lower end of the front to thus control the angle of inclination of said front.

8. A filing cabinet having a. movable front adapted at its lower end to articulately engage the cabinet to thereby permit the front to swing forward about itslower end as an axis, anchoring means adapted to hold the front in half open position, and means for thereafter elevating the lower end of the front for moving it to full open position. I

l. A vertical file comprising a cabinet,:a

' movable front, 'a hinge at the lower edge of the front for permitting the front to swing outward, means for anchoring the front to the cabinet at a point approximately midway between the upper and lower edge of the front, said hinge being slidable up and down along the forward part of the cabinet, and a power device mounted on the cabinet for sliding the hinge to the desired elevation.

5. A vertical file comprising a cabinet having an opening at the front, a movable front for closing said opening, means on said front for suspending the articlesto be filed, anchoring means attached to said front above the center of gravity thereof, said anchoring means being adapted to permit the front to be swung forward from the cabinet, and a power device for controlling the angle of inclination of the front about I the point where the anchoring means is anchored to the front.

6. A vertical file comprising a cabinet having an opening at the front, a. movable front for closing said opening, meanson said front for suspending the articles to be filed, a cable fastened at one end to the upper portion 'of the cabinet and at the other end to the front above the center of gravity thereof, a hinge for securing the lower end of the front to the cabinet, a guide on the cabinet for guiding said hinge in an approximately vertical direction along the cabinet, a second cable fastened to the lower end of the front, and a drum mounted in the cabinet for winding up the cable to thereby raise the lower end of the front and simultaneously lower the upper end of the front.

7. A filing cabinet having an opening at the front, a front for closing said opening, means at the two opposite ends of the front for suspending it, said suspending means being adapted to support the front approximately midway between the upper and lower edges thereof, a pair of lifting cables connected to said front near the bottom thereof and at opposite ends thereof, means on the ca-binet'for pulling upward on saidlifting cables, and means for equalizing the movement of said cables.

8. A vertical file comprising a cabinet having an opening at the front, a movable front for closing said opening, a cable attached to said front above the center of gravity thereof and attached to the cabinet at a point above the point of attachment to the front, a pair of lifting cables connected to said front near the bottom thereof and at opposite ends thereof, means for pulling upward on said lifting cable, and means for equalizing the movement of said two lifting cables. j 9. A vertical file having a cabinet open at the front, a front for closing said opening, hinge at the lower edge of the front for connecting it to the cabinet, cables connected at one end to the upper portion of the cabinet and at the other end to the front for permitting the front to swing forward a limited amount, the hinge being slidable up-' from the cabinet, cables attached! to the front between the upper and lower edges thereof, the upper ends of the cables being anchored-to the upper portion of the cabinet and adapted to limit the. extent to which the front can swing outward, the hinge being slidable obliquely upward and inward approximately toward the point of attachment of the cables to the cabinet, and means for arresting the upward movement of the hinges when the front has approximately reached horizontal position with the cables taut.

11. A filing cabinet having a movable front, means fastened to the cabinet near the top thereof and attached to the front approximately midway between the upper and lower ends thereof for pivotally supporting it, means for guiding the lower end of the front in an approximately vertical direction, and a power device attached directly to the lower end of the front for varying the elevation thereof.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

' CARL r. DIECKMANN. 

